Left It All Behind
by DarkSuspense
Summary: "You needed a fresh start?" And he got one. He wasn't happy. He didn't have the life he wanted. So he created the life he wanted. He wasn't just Harry Potter anymore and he never would be again.


_**A/N: Hey everyone, now if you didn't know already, this is not a multi-chapter story. It will be in third person. Now without further ado, on with the story!**_

 ** _Updated - 3/4/17 for typo's, etc. No major changes!_**

 _Flashbacks_

* * *

He was done, he walked away from that life years ago. He left for a reason. He couldn't be that close knowing there was nothing he could do about it. He changed his name for a reason. He didn't want to be found. But he was and now what? He had a career, a life here. Did they just expect him to come back?

 _Voldemort was dead but so was so many other people. Harry walked into the great hall, looking around for Ron and Hermione. Spotting them he began making his way over to them. Until he spotted something. Something that made him stop in his tracks._

 _The whole Weasley family was mourning the loss of Fred. Sitting around him covered in a sheet. In various states of sadness._

 _Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other. Ron was crying on her shoulder with their hands intertwined. Something had changed between them. They didn't look like just friends anymore._

 _Harry stared at them for all of ten seconds before he left the Great Hall and headed up to Gryffindor tower. Surprisingly it wasn't too damaged from the battle._

 _Making his way through the school he eventually made it to the entrance of the common room._ _The portrait opened without him speaking the password and he went up to his dorm and laid on his bed, closing his eyes and dozing off._

 _A few hours later he was awoken to the sound of someone calling his name._

 _"Harry!" Hermione called out. Shooting up from his laying position on the bed, he glanced around eyes landing on Ron and Hermione._

 _"What?" Harry sighed, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with this._

 _Glancing between each other and locking eyes, they made up their minds. "Well mate, we were wondering if we could talk to you?" Ron didn't really sound to sure of himself but neither the less, Harry nodded._ _Getting off of the bed, he followed them down to the common room. Sitting down in one of the armchairs, he waited for them to sit diagonal from him, on the couch._

 _Once they were seated, they glanced between one another again as if deciding who was going to start._

 _"Well, you see Harry we just wanted to tell you that we um kissed during the battle." Ron started. Seriously they did it during the battle, Harry thought._

 _"And we've decided to give us a chance. We just thought you should know since you'll be staying at the Burrow with us." Hermione explained._

 _"Because you want me to cover for you?"_

 _"NO, um no, that's not why. We just-" Ron tried but was obviously struggling with coming up with the right words._

 _"We've just been friends for a long time and it only seemed right that we tell you and not keep it secret." Hermione helped him out._

 _"Oh, um okay. Well good for you guys." It actually hurt him to say that but he buried his pain and put on a brave face._

 _"Really?" They both exclaimed._

 _"Yeah, I'm happy for you guys. Why wouldn't I be? You are good together." Harry lied._

 _"We just thought, you might feel like a little left out. It's always been 'golden trio' and now that we're together. We just didn't want you to feel like a third wheel." They explained. Definitely would not be the reason that I would be upset, Harry thought._

 _"Nah, its all good." At their skeptical looks he continued "Trust me guys, its fine, I swear." They nodded in acceptance. That put that conversation to rest._

 _The next day the Weasley's plus Harry and Hermione left the castle and returned to the Burrow. Harry tried, he really did._

 _The second day at the Burrow, Ginny confronted him and asked him to for a chance to talk. Going outside, they had their long over due talk._

 _"Harry, I just wanted to ask where are we? Because before you left, we broke up but you said it was to protect me. But now that there's no threat, do you think there's a chance for us? Ever?" Ginny held his hand and looked him in the eye as she asked._

 _"Gin, I-I I'm sorry but I don't think so. A lot has happened and I don't think either of us are in a good place right now. Please understand, you deserve someone who loves you that way." Harry begged her, wanting her to understand._

 _Turning away, Ginny looked back at him with an understanding in her eyes._

 _"Your right. Your always going to be important to me. But not as my boyfriend. My friend, we were better as friends weren't we?"_

 _"Yeah, we were and you're always going to be important to me but as my friend not my girlfriend." Pulling on her hand, Harry pulled her to him and hugged her tight with his chin resting on the top of her head._

 _"I love you." She whispered._

 _"I love you too." He whisper back. "Always will." He whispered again after a few minutes._

 _"Always will." She repeated before pulling away and looking up at him. Pecking him on the cheek she pulling completely out of his arms and made her way back to the house._

 _Following in her path shortly after, he made his way back to the Burrow and up to his room until dinner._

 _At dinner, Ron and Hermione sat side by side opposite him, leaving him stuck to watch. Eating his food, he did his best to limit the glances he threw at them. Engaging in the other ongoing conversations to distract himself._ _He made it through dinner and once it was over he went back up to his room and spent the rest of his night there before going to sleep._

 _The next morning at breakfast, Harry was again opposite of them. He was quietly eating his food and conversing with Ginny when, he heard a snip bit of their conversation._

 _"Ron, I'm going to Australia in a few days. I need to get by parents back."_

 _"I don't want you going alone." He stressed._

 _"Ron, I can take care of myself." Hermione replied annoyed._

 _"Hermione." He paused and take her hands in his own before continuing. "I know you can, I just want to be with you. That's why I want to come."_

 _Looking into his eyes, she made up her mind. "Alright…" she paused before beginning again "But we're going the muggle way." His grin faded the slighted bit._

 _"Those aeroplane thingys?" He tried looking confused._

 _"Yes Ronald." She had a slight smile on her face at his confusion._

 _"And there safe?" He didn't look or sound too sure of it._

 _"Yes, they're safe."_

 _His grin came back fully and he replied happily "Okay then, whenever your ready."_

 _Turning back to his food, Harry finished his plate before going back up to his room._

 _The next two days continued in the same manner not including the discreet trip to Gringotts. Until the third day. The day of their departure._

 _"Harry, we'll back in two weeks tops okay? You good here?" Ron looked up from his bag and looked at him as he spoke._

 _"Yeah, yea I'm good. Um hey good luck. Hope you find them." He directed the last part towards Hermione, who was standing right beside Ron. They each had a bag in their hand and their other hand was holding each other's._

 _"Thanks Harry." Hermione leaned in and gave Harry a hug, and when she pulled back Ron stuck out his fist and gave him a fist bump._

 _"Well, we're off." "Bye Harry!" They called in unison as they were walking out the front door. Hearing the distance pop of apparition, Harry followed shortly after to his own destination._

 _Arriving in the living room of Andromeda's home, he looked around and waited. Andromeda came out of the door to the kitchen not long after holding a little boy on her hip._ _As she neared him, she held out Teddy for Harry to hold him. Once he was secure in his arms, he began._

 _"So the reason I um was so abrupt in asking to see you two is because I'm leaving." At the finale word he looked up from Teddy to Andromeda._

 _"I had a feeling you might. Where do you plan on going?" She looked back at him with a certain understanding in her eyes._

 _"I'm thinking the States. Maybe Canada. I'd like to see New York though. Travel maybe?" He looked down at the little guy in his arms and bounced his knee slightly only to receive a smile from the little boy. The boys hair and eyes turned to the same shade as Harry's._

 _"Well, no matter where you go, keep in touch alright? Maybe visit every now and then? I'm sure Teddy would love to see you." She had a smile on her face. She understand why he needed to do this._

 _"Of course Andromeda and I would love to see him too." For the first time in a few days, he had a real smile on his face._

 _"It's Andy. I have a feeling we will see a lot more of each other." Looking up at her, Harry could see the amusement in her eyes._

 _He looked back at Teddy and smiled down at him. Hearing a door close, he glanced up only to find he was alone again except for Teddy. Going over to the couch he sat and placed Teddy in his lap before picking up one of the toys from the floor and playing with him._

 _A few hours of playing with Teddy later, the door opened again and looking up, Harry saw Andromeda walking toward him until she sat next to him on the floor._

 _"Thanks for looking after him for a while, I was able to get my errands done." Harry's head shot up at that and whipped towards her with his eyes wide._

 _"Wait, you left?! I was alone?" Harry exclaimed. He just thought she was in another part of the house busy doing something._

 _"Yup!" She turned towards him and she could see his shock and disbelief._

 _"B-but why? H-how did you k-" He tried before she cut him off._

 _"Harry look, I knew you would be okay here with him. I knew you'd be good with him and be happy to play with him. I trust you Harry, he's your godson." Patting his knee, she put her hand on the end table at the end of the sofa and used it to help her up from the floor. Standing, she went over to Teddy and picked him up._

 _"It's time for his nap, I'm gonna put him down, I'll be right back. Wave bye to Harry, Teddy." The little boy raised his arm and waved at Harry. Waving back at him, Harry stood and waited as Andromeda left the room with Teddy._

 _She returned alone a few minutes later. "He likes you." She said with a smile on her face._

 _He smiled. "Well, I like him to. And I hope me leaving doesn't change that?" He rose an eyebrow in questioning._

 _Stepping forward she placed both hands on his shoulders and assured him. "It doesn't. You will always be his godfather and I know you have to do this. You need a fresh start. So go and get that. Your still going to visit and maybe we can take a trip to see you wherever you are every now and then. Okay?"_

 _Nodding he agreed. "Definitely." Giving her a brief hug, he turned and went to the door hand on the handle._

 _He turned back to her and called out. "Thank you Andy."_

 _"No problem Harry. Let me know when you settle in." He nodded in confirmation and opened the door and disapparated away._

 _He arrived back the boundaries of the Burrow and made his way up to the room he was staying in. Packing his bags he shrunk and pocketed his trunk and placed his slung bag on his back before going down the stairs._ _He only made it to the second landing before he was spotted._

 _"Going somewhere?" Turning, he spotted Ginny, sending the in hall outside her door._

 _"Yeah, I'm leaving and if you could not mention that to anybody? I'd be thankful."_

 _"Sure, no problem. As long as you keep in touch." Glancing away he thought about it and turned back to her._

 _"Only if you don't tell anybody that your talking to me. Okay?" At her nod, he made to continue back down the stairs but was stopped by her asking another question._

 _"Where you gonna go?" Turning around he looked her in the eye and replied. "Don't know yet, might travel. A new start is the plan."_

 _"Okay." Walking forward she wrapped him in a hug. Returning the hug he said "Talk to you soon." Pulling away, he made it the rest the of the way down the stairs and out of the house without any problems._

 _Once he made it outside, he turned and sent one last look at the Burrow before apparating about a half a mile away from the Heathrow Airport. Walking the rest of the way there, he entered the airport and went straight to a service counter to book a flight._

 _"Hello sir, what can I do for you today?" The lady asked politely._

 _"When's the soonest flight to New York?" Looking down at her computer, she began typing in search of the information._

 _"In about 40 minutes. There are a few openings on the flight if you would like one. But I will warn you traveling last minutes can be expensive." Looking up at him, she waited for an answer._

 _"Okay um yeah, yeah book that flight. Don't care about the price."_

 _"Um first class or coach?"_

 _"How long is it?"_

 _"It depends, could be anywhere from 8 hours to 14 hours. Sorry." She looked at him with an apologetic look on her face._

 _"Okay um, quickest flight possible please and first class." He began pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a credit card._

 _"Alright sir that will be six hundred pounds." Holding her hand out above the counter she waited for the card. Handing her the card he waited. She swiped it before returning it to him. "Alright Ian, here you go." She handed him his boarding pass and wished him a good flight._

 _Looking down at his pass as he walked he read it. Ian Wilder, not bad. That's who he was now, Ian Drake Wilder, granted yeah he picked the names but Gringotts made it happen. They made the identity, they made the documents, a license, everything a normal person would need, they also transferred all of the Potter and Black money into an account for a certain Ian Wilder. Everything that was in all of the Potter and Black vaults is now in Ian Wilder's vaults based in a wizarding bank in New York City._

 _After going through security, he boarded his plane and sat back and just relaxed._

 _Several Hours Later_

 _Feeling someone shaking his shoulder he woke up and look up. Seeing it was one of the flight attendants he looked around. There were only a few other people left on the plane and they were grabbing their belongings and leaving._

 _"We landed sir." Nodding to the attendant, Harry stood and picked up his sling bag from under the seat and through it over his head and onto his shoulder. Walking down the aisle, he left the plane._

 _Since he didn't have anything in luggage claim, he went down to car rental and went to retrieve the car he had already rented for until he got around to getting something of his own. Getting the keys and finding the car, he left the building and made his way best he could to his apartment that was courtesy of Gringotts again._

 _Before he had left the airport, he asked customer service for quick directions so he knew where to go._

 _About an hour later, Harry had arrived at his apartment. An hour was pretty good considering traffic and the fact that he had gotten lost at least three times but he made in the end and that's what's counts._ _Pulling the car into the car park, he grabbed his bag and used the elevator to get to his place. The complex was 16 stories and Harry had one of the two on the 15th floor._

 _Arriving at his place, he went in and looked around._

 _"Not bad. Not bad at all." It was fully furnished per his instructions and was a really modern 4 bedroom, 2 bath New York apartment._

 _Pulling a paper out of his pocket, he read it aloud._

 _1\. Arrive in NYC_

 _2\. Buy a vechicle_

 _3\. Visit wizarding hospital here and get eyes and scar fixed._

 _4\. Get phone and laptop._

 _5\. Find something to do._

 _Grabbing a pen from the office, he checked off the first one. Picking up his keys, he left the apartment again. This time in search of a car dealer._

 _Finding one nearly an hour later, he pulled in and went inside._ _Walking over to the person at the counter his first question was "Do you sell motorcycles?" Harry had figured they would be the second closest thing to brooms._

 _"Yeah, follow me." Following the guy, he had led Harry to another section of the lot that contained motocycles. It didn't take Harry long before he found one he liked, a Ducati. Going through all of the steps, he showed his license and all of the required documents before handing over his card and closing the deal._

 _"Hey, um where's the nearest place I can return a rental car?"_

 _"Um end of the block, take a left and you'll see it on the corner."_

 _"Can I leave the bike here for a few minutes?"_

 _"Sure."_

 _Leaving the dealer, he followed the guys instructions and found the rental place. Returning the car, he walked back to the dealer to pick up the bike._

 _Once Harry got back, he asked for directions to a electronics store. Once he got them he got the bike, and put on the full faced helmet before making his way to the store._

 _Arriving at the store a short time after, he went inside in search of a phone and a laptop._ _About a half hour later he left the store with the nicest laptop he could find and a flip phone. Putting the phone in his pocket and the laptop in his bag, he made his way back home._

 _The next day, Harry left his apartment once again but this time, he was going to the wizarding hospital in New York, NYCWH or New York Central Wizarding Hospital._ _Leaving the hospital about and hour and a half later minus the glasses and his signature scar he made his way back home._

 _Once he got back there, Harry went to his office and pulled out the to do list, checking all but the last thing off the list._

Thinking back on it, it took him nearly half a year to find what he wanted to do. He eventually found it in the end and that's what he was doing now. He was good at what he did, and what he did was good. It wasn't easy to get where he was. It took a lot of work. Work he had been willing to do.

 _It had been six months before Harry found what he wanted to do. He had changed a lot in that time. He wore his hair as a faux hawk most of the time. He wore a leather jacket. He adjusted, became someone he liked being. He liked being Ian Wilder, not the fabled boy-who-lived._

 _A week and a half after he got here, Ginny sent him a letter. It read_

 _Hi Harry,_

 _Ron and Hermione just got back, they asked about where you had gone. Don't worry I didn't tell them anything, only that you had left. Hermione had been able to reverse the memory charm and her and her parents reunited but they decided to stay in Australia and to stay in contact and visit every now and then. I know you left for a reason Harry, but do you think that I could visit every now and then? As friends of course, but it would be good to see you. Let me know what you think._

 _Your friend,_

 _Ginny_

 _He had received quite a few letters from Ron and Hermione as well but he never opened them._

 _He responded to Ginny with_

 _Hi Ginny,_

 _It was good to here from you. Of course I would love to see you every now and then. We can definitely work something out. Thank you for not telling them anything. I've gotten settled in here and I'm happy here. Talk to you soon._

 _Look forward to seeing you,_

 _Harry_

 _He sent the letter off using a charm he picked up after deciding not to get another owl. It basically did the same thing and would send a letter to someone but was much quicker._ _He also penned a letter to Andromeda letting her know he was settled in and looked forward to talking to her again and sent it off._

 _Over the period of six months, he had visited Andromeda and Teddy five times and had a weekly letter with Ginny. They were the only two people he corresponded with from his old life. Any other letters he got just went to the bin._

 _Harry had been in New York for nearly six months before he found what he wanted to do. It came out of nowhere but he knew it was for him. He followed all of the steps necessary, got the news out there, it took him nearly another six months to go through all of the processes and tests but at the end of his first year in New York he was a fully licensed private investigator, and freelance consultant for the NYPD._

 _About a month later, he got a call. His first case as a PI. That was just the beginning, he got pretty good flow of work from there on out._

* * *

Now four years later, or five years sense he's arrived in New York he was a widely known private investigator. He sometimes even got work in Canada. In the past five years, he had built a life for himself here in New York as the famed Ian Wilder, he wasn't Harry Potter anymore. The only similarity anymore between the two identities was his eyes, Harry still had his signature emerald green eyes. Not even his hair was the same anymore. Ian wore his hair short in a faux hawk cut. He didn't have a body builder body but he had a slim but firm build, he worked out enough to achieve a toned swimmers body.

He liked who he was and what he did. Granted he may have lived in a muggle environment and have a muggle job but that didn't mean he didn't use his magic. He still always kept his wand on him at all times, he stilled practiced and honed his abilities. Over the years he learned he was capable at wandless magic and honed that until he could do the majority of spells he knew wandless and silent. Harry was happy with his life.

So when someone shows up out of the blue and asks you to come back home for a special event he wasn't very inclined to go. Someone was getting married.

 _Putting the case files down on his desk he stood and left the office making his way to the door calling "I'm coming, I'm coming." They just kept knocking._

 _Getting to the door, Harry started chewing them out literally the second he had it hand on the handle. "Who the bloody hell knoc- uhh Ginny hi!" He stopped halfway through his rant and once he recovered from his shock, he pulled her into a hug._

 _"Heya Harry, wow quite the warm welcome." She laughed and pulled back. Walking in she looked around._

 _"Sure Ginny come on in." Harry's words practically dripped sarcasm._

 _"Oh thanks, nice place." She was turning her head this way and that and just looking around._

 _"So just a warning um, if we ever talk out in the general public area of New York, don't call me Harry." Walking over to the fridge, Harry reached in and grabbed a can of coke out before opening it standing on the kitchen side of the island._

 _"Um why not, that's your name isn't it?" She sat in one of the stools on the other side of the island._

 _"Not here, it not. I'm someone else here. Well I'm still myself I just have a different name. Nobody knows the real me here." At his reply, Ginny adopted a shocked face before it turned to understanding._

 _"Okay, so who are you?" She leaned forward on her hands and stared intently at Harry._

 _"Ian Wilder, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and adopted his smirk and cocked eyebrow._

 _"Nice name, it fits." She shook the hand before return it to under her chin._

 _"Yeah, I like it, it's me. It rare to hear Harry anymore, only maybe once or twice a month I see Andromeda and Teddy but otherwise it just in letters and the rest the time I'm Ian."_

 _"And you obviously enjoy it. So what do you do here?" At his raised eyebrow she clarified. "What's you job?"_

 _"I'm a private investigator, I also consult for NYPD every now and then. But mostly just PI work."_

 _"Really, isn't it hard to get work?"_

 _"Well it was at first but I've been doing it for four years, I'm widely known. Even do work in Canada."_

 _"Really?" She wore a shocked expression on her face._

 _"Wow, that's so nice of you." She cocked her and raised an eyebrow while sending him a glare._ _"Kidding."_

 _"Hm sure." She wasn't convinced._

 _"So what you are doing here?"_

 _"What can't I visit a friend that I haven't seen in a few years?"_

 _"You can but you wouldn't, at least not out of the blue like this. Unless it was important and you had a reason other than just wanting to see me and catch up. So out with it, what is it?" She rose her hand to her face and covered her mouth before replying._

 _"Promise you get mad?"_

 _"That's never a good way to start but alright. Promise." She looked away before meeting his eyes._

 _"There's a wedding and the bride and groom would be so happy if you were there. They didn't say it directly, only that they wish they could invite you. So I took it upon myself to come and invite you." She said it all in one breath and pretty quickly._

 _"Okay, who's the bride and groom?" Harry asked pretty skeptical of the answer._

 _"George and Katie. Um here." She looked down and pulled an envelope out of her purse before handing to him._

 _"They got together?" He took the envelope and opened it. Reading it through_

 ** _Welcome_**

 ** _You are invited to the wedding of_**

 ** _George Weasley & Katie Bell_**

 ** _This union will take place at_**

 ** _The Burrow at 1:00 on_ _The 24th of June 2003_**

 ** _You may bring a plus one, please RSVP_**

 _"Yup." She popped the 'p'._

 _"Okay say I do come, how do I RSVP this?" Looking up at her, he waited for an answer._

 _"Well I'll take it to them personally and say it's a wizard friend of mine named Ian Wilder and I don't see him often enough so I wanted an excuse to see him. And then just hand them the invite. Easy!"_

 _"And the plus one thing?"_

 _"Do you plan to take someone?"_

 _"That's my business but as of right now no but if I were to show up with someone even if I didn't say I was going to would that be okay?"_

 _"Yes, I will let them now that Ian is unsure right now okay? So you'll come?" She was practically jumping up and down with excitement. And I can't ruin that, Harry thought._

 _"Okay, okay, I can't believe I'm saying this but yes I'll be there." As soon as he finished the sentence, Ginny spring from the stool and all but flew around the island and crushed him in a tight hug._

 _"Thank you thank you thank you." Ginny mumbled repeating in his ear._

 _"Now I think you have to be getting that invite back to the happy couple huh?" Harry questioned as she pulled away._

 _"Yes I do, I'll see you soon Harry." Picking up her purse and the invite from the counter, she left the apartment._

 _So now in one week he was going to a wedding. A wedding where he would see people from his past. People that would recognize him. He also needed a date because there was no way in hell that he was showing up stag._

 _"Looks like I'm going to England a little early." He mumbled._

* * *

 **The Next Day**

Walking back into his bedroom and over to his closest, he pulled out a suitcase and placed it on the bed. Pulling out clothes that was enough for two weeks, he grabbed a bomber jacket, a coat, a hoodie, a black blazer with a black dress shirt and a forest green slim dress shirt as well, he also a black blazer and a green vest with another black shirt as well as several pairs of black or grey slim jeans, a pair of black dress shoes, and black dress pants. He also grabbed some slim t-shirts, a few polos, and a couple Nike and underarmour workout shirts along with trainers and some slim joggers. Next he went over to his drawers to pull out some short socks and underwear.

After putting everything into the suitcase, he ran through his mental checklist to made sure he had everything before going into his bathroom and grabbing the needed items. Going back to the suitcase he threw in the other items before zipping it up. Picking up the suitcase, he placed it by the door out of the apartment before going to his office.

Going around his office, he picked up his laptop and cord and placed it in his sling bag along with a few other things. Putting on the backpack, he left the office and made his way to the door, grabbing his keys and leather jacket on the way he picked up his suitcase and left the apartment locking the door behind him. Shrinking his suitcase and putting on his jacket while in the elevator down to the parking garage where he got on his motorcycle and made his way to the wizarding section of New York.

Arriving nearly twenty minutes later, he shrunk his motocycle as well and went into the main entrance of the wizarding area. Using the floo in there he flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Keeping his head down, he walked out and into London, where checked to see if anyone was watching before unshrinking the Ducati and getting on.

Nearly fifteen minutes later he arrived at a nice hotel and parked his bike and went in. Arranging for a room, he went back outside and pulled his bike into the parking garage before making his way up to his room.

Once in his room, he unshrunk the suitcase and placed on the floor. The hotel room had a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen with an island. Taking the suitcase to the bedroom, he took out the clothes that need to be hung like his blazers, vest and dress pants and shirts. He left most of the other stuff in his suitcase.

Finishing up what he needed to do, he left the hotel on his bike to return to Diagon Ally. Another fifteen minutes later and he was shrinking his bike again and entering the building. Going through the brick wall, Harry just walked around looking to see how much had changed. He had been looking around for a solid ten minutes when he spotted someone. Ron. He did not want to see him yet, so he ducked into the nearest store he could find.

Which led to him slamming into someone and knocking them both over, but at least he was out of sight. Looking down he saw the person he was on top of.

"Daphne?" She shifted her gaze to catch his. She had the same look of shock on her face as Harry did.

"Ian?" She knew who he really was but she knew to use that name at least. Getting up, he held his hand out to her to help her up. Once she took it, he pulled her up.

"In the flesh."

"What are you doing here?" Ah should've expected that.

"A wedding."

"You came back for a wedding?!" She exclaimed out of shock. Harry rose his arm and ran his hand through his hair before rubbing his neck.

"Yeah I know, I can't believe it either." He confirmed while shaking his head remembering the disbelief of his agreement to the whole thing.

"Wow, well it was really good to see you again even if you did knock me over."

"Yeah I'm sorry about that. So remember that time you said that one day we would have to go out for coffee if we ever met again." He paused and continued at her nod signaling him that she remembered. "So I was just thinking. Maybe instead of coffee you would be down to do a wedding?" He suggested with an raised eyebrow.

"A wedding. Hm okay Wilder, you have a deal." Daphne said agreeing.

"Great, and are you busy right now?"

"No whyy?" She dragged the word out, skeptical of where the conversation was going.

"Well you know since you were probably looking forward to that coffee, and I wouldn't want to disappoint, how bout coffee?"

"Right now?" She questioned and at his nod continued. "You are really pushing it, aren't we Wilder?"

"Oh your not about to say no, are you because I would be very heartbroken."

"Oh would you now?"

"Yup." He confirmed while slowly nodding his head.

"Fine. Let's go." She tried to be dramatic about it as if it was a burden but they both knew it wasn't.

* * *

 _"Your Ian Wilder? The private investigator?" The woman exclaimed._

 _"That's me, so what can I do for you?" He vaguely recognized her._

 _"My names Daphne Greengrass and you see my sister's needs your help."_

 _"Greengrass?" This time he was the one shocked._

 _"That's right Potter." She had a smirk on her face._

 _"Look, here I'm not Harry Potter. I left for a reason okay? Here I'm Ian Wilder." He explained._

 _"Okay, none of my business but I still do need your help."_

 _"Right well what can I do for you?"_

 _"Well you see my sister was…_

 ** _||Later Flashback||_**

 _"It's been nice getting to actually know you Harry."_

 _"You too Daphne."_

 _"So if by some odd chance that we ever met again, how would you feel about getting a coffee?"_

 _"Love to."_

 _With one final hug, she turned and disappeared out of his life for the next two years._

And here they were two years later, having that coffee that was promised oh so long ago. Talking and catching up, they fell into the same sync they were in two years ago. It was like no time had gone by. They both always knew they could be something more but they never had the chance to act on it but now they did.

The next week came and gone in the blink of an eye. Harry and Daphne had hung out nearly everyday and it was blatantly clear to both of them that old feelings had come back with a renewed strength. On the last day before the wedding, they finally took that leap of faith.

They were sitting in Harry's hotel room watching a movie on the TV when Daphne spoke.

"You know, this has been really fun. Like a great week." She turned towards him and pulled her leg up and sat on it.

"I agree though I'm sensing a 'but' at the end of that?" Moving slightly, he shifted so that he was tilted towards her.

"Your sensing right. It's been great but I need to know something."

"What?"

"Do you like me, like like me? Because I like you and I think you like me bu-" He interrupted her by leaning forward and covering her lips with his own. Harry moved his hands around to the small of her back and her hip while her arms went up and around his neck. They stayed kissing for several minutes before the need for air beat out their desire to continue, but just barely.

Pulling back, Harry asked. "That answer your question?"

"Uh huh, I like that answer, a lot. But how are we going to work this out when you leave again?"

"We'll figure it out." Was his quick reply before leaning forward again to repeat his answer from before.

* * *

 **Day Of The Wedding**

It was the day of the wedding and Harry was happy but not at the same time. He was happy for George and Katie but not because he was being pulled back into this world and he didn't like it.

After getting dressed in his black dress shirt and black pants with black shoes and a black blazer with the top button left open on the dress shirt, he apparated out of the hotel.

He reappeared on the front step of Greengrass manor and knocked. A few minutes later, Daphne opened the door in a towel.

"Um not that I'm not loving this look cuz I am but why aren't you dressed?" He followed her through the house and to her room.

"Because I wanted to see what you were wearing. All black, no tie and slim fitting. Looks really good." She turned away from him and picked up a one shoulder black dress from the bed before entering the bathroom and closing the door.

She exited the bathroom fifteen minutes later fully dressed and ready to go. Sharing a quick kiss, they apparated to the boundaries of the Burrow.

Harry reached into his pocket and showed a copy of the invitation to the person checking them and they were allowed in to the backyard. Nobody seemed to recognize him yet.

"Which side do we sit on?" He looked at Daphne and hoped she would have some sort of answer.

"The side that your friends with." She gave him a 'duh' look.

"Slight problem."

"How slight?" She narrowed her eyes at him in response.

"What if your friends with both sides?"

Glancing at him and then at the two sides she replied. "Should've seen that coming." She sighed before continuing. "No idea. You could ask."

"Who am I supposed to ask?" He exclaimed.

"Ugh, fine I'll ask, come on." Grabbing his hand she pulled him forward towards where the groom was.

Once they were right in front of George, Harry turned around facing away from George with his head down and his hand still in Daphne's.

"Um Mr. Weasley, hi my boyfriend was just wondering what side would we sit on?" George turned and stared at her appearing to think about it.

"Um, well who sent him the invitation? And which side is he friends with?"

"Well your sister gave it to him but he's friends with both sides." She explained. His face adopted a thoughtful look.

"Oh right um Ian was it?" At her nod his continued. "Well um." He stopped to lean in and whisper. "Is he magical?"

"Mhm hm, actually if you'd like to meet him, he's right behind me." At the end of her statement she tugged his hand.

"Sure that'd be grea-" He stopped in the middle of his sentence when Harry turned around and looked up.

"Ian Wilder, at your service." Harry stepped forward and had his trademark grin on his face when he introduced himself and stuck out his hand.

George completely disregarded the hand and pulled Harry into a hug.

"You came. You really came!" George exclaimed once they pulled apart.

"Wouldn't miss it."

"How did you know though?!"

"You can thank your sister for that one. And don't be to mad that her that she lied about not knowing where I was. But she came to me and asked me to come. I couldn't turn it down."

"She knew!?" He looked shocked.

"Yeah." Harry confirmed nodding.

"First I'm gonna hex and then I'm gonna thank her. Either I am really happy you're here, Katie will be so happy as well. Actually could you do me a favor?"

"Sure what is it?"

"Could you go into Katie's room and just make sure everything's all good? It's in Ginny's old room."

Nodding Harry replied. "Yeah, sure." Turning to Daphne he gave her a kiss and whispered "Be right back." Before walking off.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he knocked on Ginny's old room and waited. A few seconds later, Ginny opened the door.

"You made it!" She whispered in his ear while pulling him into a hug.

"Course, George sent me to check on her." He winked at Ginny. Getting the message she left the room and closed the door behind her.

"Ginny? Who was it?" Katie called from where she sat on the other side of the room doing the finishing touches.

"An old friend." He said as he walked closer to her. She spun around as soon as she heard his voice and got to him as quick as she could in her wedding dress.

"Oh my gods, what are you doing here. I mean how. What?!" She wrapped him in a hug so tight Harry could've swore he heard a crack.

"Well I just couldn't miss your wedding day, especially when a special someone told me that you wished I could be here." He said with a smirk on his face.

Stepping back she gave him the once over before asking. "Your Ian aren't you?"

"In the flesh."

"So Ginny made up a fake name just so we wouldn't know?"

"Well not exactly." At her questioning look he continued. "I really am Ian Wilder. You see when I left, I left almost everything. Only stayed in contact with two people and moved out of the country and changed my name. I've been Ian Wilder for the past five years, it's who I am."

"Let me guess, one of those two people was Ginny?" she received a nod as confirmation. "Well I am honored you would come back for my wedding. But if I remember correctly Ian Wilder had a plus one marked down. Who's the lucky lady?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Well you know, you can't take the bride to her own wedding so that was out. But I actually came with an old friend that needed my help a couple years ago. I ran into her when I was in Diagon Ally trying not to be seen by run and I knocked her over. We hit it off when we met a while ago and we said that if we ever ran into one another again that we would go for coffee. Long story short. We went for coffee, a wedding and a full week of hanging out and we are know dating." She chuckled at his explanation.

"Only you Harry, but just so you know, I'm glad you got over Hermione." His eyes widened in shock at her sentence.

"How- wha- but- I-WHA?" She laughed at his struggle to form words.

"Harry I know that you fancied her five years ago. But you let her go because you knew Ron liked her. I can pretty safely guess that, that is one of the reasons why you left in the first place. Right?"

"Yeah, it was. But it wasn't only that, yea that played a big part in it but I needed a new start. I didn't want to stick around for the aftermath or the fallouts. I had plenty of reasons. So I left."

"I understand that. And you look like you got that new start you wanted. You're happier with your life, with your girlfriend, it's a nice change. Oh so real quick, because the wedding starts in like ten minutes but I just want to know something really quick."

"Okay?"

"What are you doing wherever you live?"

"I'm a Private Investigator."

"That's right, the famous New York PI Ian Wilder, right?"

"How did you-?"

"When I heard someone named Ian Wilder was coming to my wedding, I asked around. Nobody had a description of him so I didn't know it was you but apparently he's a fantastic detective."

"Ha wow, maybe you'd make a pretty good detective yourself."

"Maybe." With final word, she pushed him out of the room so she could finish getting ready.

Exiting the Burrow he quickly looked around in search of Daphne. Spotting her in one of chairs on Katie's side, Harry made his way over to her and sat down on her right.

"Hey, talk to Katie?" She turned her head to the right and looked at him.

"Yup, what've you been doing?" He turned to his left to glance at her.

"Waiting for this to start." As if on cue, the groom walked to the altar and the music began.

First came the grooms men with the bridesmaids then it was the best man and the maid of honor which was shortly followed by the bride.

Once everyone was at the front, the ceremony began.

It finally got to the I take you part.

"I, George Weasley take you Katie Bell, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."

"And I, Katie Bell take you George Weasley, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." They exchanged the rings and then came the most important part of the wedding.

"I do."

"I do." They both did.

"You may now kiss the bride!"

The bride and groom walked down the aisle and towards the reception tent. Then it was the best man and the maid of honor, followed by the rest of the wedding party before everyone else joined as well.

They cut the cake and then promptly smashed a bit into the others face. Everyone was sitting when Ron stood to give his toast.

After the toasts, everyone began eating, walking around, and talking.

Daphne and Harry were conversing quietly when Harry felt a little tug on his pant leg. Looking down, he saw it was a little boy.

"Your Harry Potter." The boy that couldn't be no older than four stated.

"Um how did you-?"

"My mommy and daddy tell me stories about you and show me pictures." The boy barely finished the sentence when what he didn't want happening happened.

"Xander, there you are. You can't go running off like that." The woman said. Harry looked up from the boy to his mother and his eyes widened.

"I'm so sorry sir, he-." She picked her son up and looked at the person her son was talking to only to stop in her tracks.

"I-I Har-Harry?"

At that exact moment Ron walked up. "Oh Hermione you found Xander grea-." Then he stopped to when he followed Hermione's line of sight and saw who was sitting there.

As his face was getting redder, Ginny appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the now standing Harry.

"Ron, don't do anything you might regret." Ginny warned.

"How can you stand up for him when he ran away?!" Ron exclaimed. He wasn't happy.

"He did no such thing Ron, in fact you should be thanking him!"

Harry opened his mouth to say something but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. Looking down he saw Daphne shaking her head, telling him no. Closing his mouth he turned back to Ron and Ginny.

"Why the bloody hell should I be thanking him?!" Ron shouted. Looking around, Harry could see that everyone was staring at the four of them watching the show.

"Oh I don't know maybe because he GAVE UP A SHOT AT LOVE FOR YOU!" Ginny shouted back jabbing her finger at Ron to emphasize her point. Looking back at Daphne, hoping she understood. Harry received a nod signaling that she understood that it was before she met him and that she didn't care.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Ron shouted back. Hermione hadn't even tried to intervene, she looked like she was trying to figure it out in her head. She didn't get it until the next sentence Ginny said.

"Harry let her go for you Ron. He didn't fight for her because he knew you fancied her. He loved her too Ron."

"Loved?" Hermione asked quietly. Harry looked at her and made eye contact. She searched his eyes for an answer and once he knew she found the one she was looking for he shifted his gaze back to Ron.

Ron was glaring at him full force. "You just have to have everything don't ya Potter?!" He forced out before lunging at Harry and slamming him down on the table making everybody at the table jump up and get as far back as they could.

"I don't want to hurt you Ron." Harry choked out from the hand squeezing his throat. Ginny, Hermione, Daphne and several other people tried to get to them but there was a shield up around them preventing anyone from getting through.

"Oh yeah right, you already have. All you care about is yourself! Because Harry Potter gets everything!" He squeezed harder on Harry's throat.

"Daddy?!" Came a tiny voice. Ron instantly let go and backed away. Harry got up and was leaning against the table catching his breath when the shield vanished and Daphne and Ginny came rushing forward. Daphne wrapped her arm around his waist hugging him.

"You should look in the mirror Ron then you'll see that your wrong. I'm not the one that has everything, you are."

"At least I'm not the one who brought a filthy snake as a guest."

"Your treading on dangerous waters Ron. I suggest you be careful." Harry warned.

"You think I'm afraid of you? I just nearly choked you and you couldn't even fight back."

"You should be." Everybody could hear the warning in his voice.

"Oh really? Did you beg to a snake to lower herself to you or did you lower yourself to her slimy hands." Everybody in the tent could easily see that Ron was pushing it. Everyone took a few steps back waiting for it.

"She's a filthy little sl*t!" That was it, Harry snapped. Lunging forward, he caught the punch Ron threw and put his arm into a armlock behind his back before kicking out one of Ron's knees and wrapped his other arm around Ron's head and placed him in a chokehold.

"I let you get me before. Because I didn't want to hurt you and I don't want to now." Pulling his arm up to where Harry knew was just under the point where it would dislocate but was still in a lot of pain, he released him and backed away, returning to his spot next to Daphne.

Ron was kneeling on the floor holding his arm trying to catch his breath. Standing he shouted "George! Your just gonna let him ruin your wedding?!"

"The only one I see ruining my wedding is you Ron. Katie and I are very happy Harry is here, he is not the one that caused the scene, you did!" George shouted back.

"But he nearly broke my arm!" Ron whined.

"You were asking for it, you should've known that no matter what Harry is fully capable of taking you down. Everybody in here knew what was going to happen before it even did. It's not his fault you're a prat!"

"Bu-bu-but that's not fair!" Ron shouted.

"I don't care, now either behave or leave!"

Ron looked around for trying to find support from at least someone only to find none. Not even his girlfriend or son were willing to support him. Standing up, he stomped out of the tent and apparated away.

"Okay people, shows over." Harry shouted. Pulling out his wand, he cleaned up whatever mess there was the best he could.

"Yes everybody, returning to eating!" George encouraged. Slowly but surely everybody went back to their seats and resumed eating. Harry, Daphne, Ginny and Hermione with the little boy sat at the table that Harry was previously laying on. It was a very awkward arrangement.

"So, um who's this?" Harry gestured to the little boy in Hermione's arms.

"His name's Xander, he's four and he's Ron and Hermione's son." Ginny answered when Hermione seemed to freeze up.

"Well congratulations." Harry offered. The little boy wiggled out of his mothers arms and walked around the table over to Harry and held his arms up.

"Oh Xander, you should-" Hermione started.

"It's fine." Harry reassured her before leaning down and picking up Xander and putting him in his lap.

"How did you-?" Hermione looked shocked that he knew what to do and was so calm.

"Teddy is only like a year or so older and I see him at least once or twice a month so I have practice." He answered as he bounced his knee slightly making the toddler giggle. Harry grinned seeing the toddlers reaction.

At the end of the dinner, when the dances began, Hermione handed Xander off to Ginny for a few minutes so she could go on a walk and talk with Harry.

She began once they got outside. "So, is it true?"

"Yeah."

"But you let me go. Because you knew Ron fancied me too." She finished.

Nodding he continued. "I was thinking about leaving anyway, so I figured it would be best to do it before I left so I knew I'd be okay."

"And you found love again." Shocked by her statement Harry halted.

"What?"

She stopped and turned to look at him. "Come on, a blind person could see the connection between you and Daphne."

"You know that's disrespectful to blind people?"

Nodding her head she commented. "Doesn't make it untrue."

"I'm gonna leave Ron."

"Wait why?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while, but never really honestly considered it. But you showing up made me realize that what I had with Ron wasn't as real as it should've been."

"What'd you mean? How did I effect that?"

"Because knowing that you felt that way, even if it was five years ago. Knowing that you did, showed me that I don't have to settle. I think I projected my feelings for you onto Ron and tried to replace what I felt with you." At his raised eyebrow, she continued. "I fancied you five maybe six years ago but I thought it would never work out. Because you told Ron you didn't see me that way. So I settled."

When she heard him chuckling she turned to him with a questioning look on her face. "When he asked me that, I lied. That was me stepping back. Wow if we both just said something, things might have turned out differently. But thinking about the last five years, I wouldn't change a thing. Because I like who I am, I like what I do, I like the life I have. I think we both know, we missed our chance."

"We were over before we even began." He nodded agreeing with her statement. She just stood looking at the sky in a comfortable silence.

"Harry?"

"Yea?"

"When I split things off with Ron, he and his family are going to fight for custody of Xander."

"Right?"

Turning to face him she asked. "What if I let them win?" At his shocked look she hastily continued "Don't get me wrong, I love Xander but I have things I want to do and I don't think he would be best suited with me. Yeah I still want to see him and spend time with him but I don't think fighting for full custody would be a good idea. What do you think?"

"I think you should go with you gut and do what you think is best for him. And if you think it's with them then do it. Do whatever you think is right."

"Thanks Harry." With that she walked back to the tent. He was joined about five minutes later by Daphne.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

"No idea."

"While I've been doing some thinking and I was wondering what happens now?"

"I would hate to go our separate ways again. I don't want to give that up this time, I've done it to many times. But I don't want to move away from New York. And I don't want to make you move either."

"How about this, summer holidays plus September and October you spend here. And the rest of the time we spend in New York?"

"So like we divide the time up?"

"So each of us gets our home." Turning, Harry took her hand.

"I like that." He showed how much he liked it was a long kiss.

When they pulled away, she whispered out of breath. "You know, one day you'll make a great dad."

Chuckling he nodded and replied "One day. One day a long time away."

"Oh definitely."

It was the day after the wedding and Harry had to go home and take care of a few things before coming back to England until November. But other than that, all was good for everyone.

* * *

Hermione settled with partial custody, being able to have him every other weekend and on Wednesday's. She also was spotted with Draco Malfoy, apparently they were a thing since he changed after the war. Even Harry agreed that he had changed and was friends with him.

Ron wouldn't talk to Harry unless absolutely needed. And wasn't a fan of Hermione much either anymore.

Harry spent every June, July, August, September and October in England with Daphne. Then they would both go back to New York for the rest of the year and finish it off there. Even though he was back to being Harry Potter around his friends and in England, he was still the New York Private Investigator Ian Wilder during his time in New York. Which he definitely didn't mind, it was a nice break to just be normal.

Harry left it all behind but in the end he had it all back again. But this time he was happy. Harry didn't know what the future had in store for him and his friends since the future was always changing but he knew that with his friends by his side nothing would stand in the way of his happiness.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everybody, first one-shot down. This was written in third person and it was actually easier to write in. I'm considering possibly changing it in Changing My Life to a third person, just an idea. Enjoy and Happy Reading!**


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